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10 Dec 2016 2:43:03am

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Neither Beate Roessler nor Brilton consider authentic culture in the environment where it evolved and is authentic. For each cultural difference, an immigrant can choose between being a chameleon or a scarlet anemone, not to be stood on. Me, I speak strine. A pom I know, who immigrated 40 years ago, still tocks lak t'lads a hoom. I wear a flat hat. He wears XXXX cap.An immigrant learns to adopt a safe cultural package that the locals will embrace or leave alone. Being "authentic" in an integrated way is irrelevant. Consider how a new immigrant could decide what elements of her culture to take a stand on from this allegory. In the Battle of Britain, High Command, being concerned that too many bombers were being shot down, had the locations of holes in the planes measured. When they were found to be in the wings and fuselages, these were reinforced with armour plating. Then it was pointed out that the armour plate should have been put in the other places, under the cockpit and tail, because the planes measured had returned. It is important to have the right sample. Immigrants ditch their cultures because of prejudice against their language or an associated behaviour, such as bluntness. But authentic culture, as explained by Wade Davis on Summer Talks with Paul Barclay, broadcast this evening, resides with indigenous people. He used the example of Columbia's granting of land rights to their Indians and the consequent revival of their culture, which has sharing characteristics and values stasis, rather than self-improvement, valuable to humans where tolerance is at a premium. These are the qualities that come to the fore in the future in Australia in my book "The Grass Is Always Browner", Zeus, 2011. Australia's authentic culture is Aboriginal.

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